Auto Semi Minolta
}} The Auto Semi Minolta (オート・セミ・ミノルタ) is a Japanese 4.5×6 folding rangefinder camera, released in 1937 and available at least until 1943. Dates: the advertisements and articles listed in , p. 342, run from 1937 to 1942, and the camera was still mentioned in the compiled in April 1943 (item 51). It was made by Chiyoda Kōgaku (the predecessor of Minolta) and distributed by Asanuma Shōkai. This camera was inspired by the Weltur and it is completely different from the viewfinder Semi Minolta, with which it only shares a few parts. Description The body of the Auto Semi Minolta is largely copied from the Welta Weltur, in particular the folding struts and the focusing system are identical. The focusing is controlled by a small knob placed on the right of the folding bed, moving the whole lens and shutter assembly (unit focusing). http://farm1.static.flickr.com/129/339713284_4529262be2_t_d.jpg The range- and viewfinder is contained under a top housing, whose shape is again inspired by the Weltur. Both devices are combined and share the same eyepiece at the right end of the camera. The Auto Semi Minolta was certainly the first serial-produced Japanese camera to have a combined range and viewfinder, only preceded by the Olympus Standard and perhaps the Lord prototypes. The name Minolta is engraved between the rectangular viewfinder window and the round rangefinder window. The same Minolta engraving is present on a small black plate inside the folding bed, covering the focusing mechanism. Above the top housing there is an Auto Semi engraving, the serial number and an accessory shoe. The front leather is embossed Minolta. The Auto Semi Minolta has an automatic film advance device inspired by Plaubel products like the Roll-Op folder or the rollfilm backs of the Makina. It is placed in a housing at the right end of the bottom plate, near the back latch. This housing supports a big advance knob and a large and thin exposure counter disc, with 1'' to ''16 graduations facing a red-dotted index. On the back, there is a sliding button to unlock film advance, and the same housing also supports the folding bed release. The case of the Auto Semi Minolta has a flap to cover the advance knob and exposure counter. See the pictures in this page at With Zakka. http://farm1.static.flickr.com/130/354012090_2e926de5ff_t_d.jpg Back view The tripod screw is located at the opposite end of the bottom plate. The back is hinged to the left, with a red window protected by a vertically sliding cover, probably used to set the first exposure. The film chamber contains two pivoting cradles, one on each side, maintaining the film spools in place. All the cameras have a Promar 75mm f/3.5 four-element lens, made by Asahi Kōgaku like the Coronar lens of the Semi Minolta. , lens item Lb39; Lewis, p. 182. The aperture scale is screwed to the bottom of the shutter plate. Evolution The Auto Semi Minolta somewhat evolved during its production run. The shutter was first a Compur then a Crown II made by Chiyoda itself. The use of an imported Compur at the beginning probably indicates that the company was not yet ready to make the Crown II when the camera was released. Compur shutter http://static.flickr.com/109/287620060_24a7fe7e26_m_d.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/139/337795852_21b759e8ac_m_d.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/161/337795851_c2210b19c7_m_d.jpg Auto Semi Minolta n°4606, Promar Anastigmat Nippon f/4.5 lens, Compur shutter, early back latch. Pictures courtesy of eBayer hbpartner. http://farm1.static.flickr.com/129/354006291_bb01058ef7_m_d.jpg Front view showing the peculiar shutter release. Pictures courtesy of eBayer hbpartner. On the first version, the shutter is a Compur S with T, B, 1–250 speeds and a self-timer, and the shutter release is on the folding bed. The shutter plate is engraved as usual Deckel-München at the top and COMPUR at the bottom, with an FD logo (for Friedrich Deckel) on the right. The advance knob has a convex top and a single grooved row. The camera was featured in the new products column of the November 1937 issue of Asahi Camera, , p. 342. and the first version was pictured in advertisements dated October and November 1937 and January and March 1938. October 1937 advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Tanimura, p. 12 of no. 118 and p. 21 of no. 12. November 1937 advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in , p. 97. January 1938 advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Tanimura, p. 15 of no. 118. March 1938 advertisement published in the 23 March 1938 issue of Asahi Graph, reproduced in the Gochamaze website. The shutter type is sometimes faintly recognizable. Crown shutter http://static.flickr.com/102/287620077_7c4f1bb1e4_m_d.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/152/337799628_086b474d7d_m_d.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/155/337799624_cde9ff446d_m_d.jpg Auto Semi Minolta n°7208, Promar Anastigmat Nippon f/4.5 lens, Crown shutter, early back latch. The self-timer control is certainly broken. Pictures courtesy of eBayer hbpartner. The second version has a Crown shutter giving T, B, 1–400 speeds. The shutter release has moved to the top plate, above the hinge of the folding bed. This version appears in advertisements dated January, July and November 1939, April and December 1940, and in a catalogue by Asanuma dated October 1941. January 1939 advertisement published in Asahi Graph (5 January 1939) reproduced in Gochamaze. (The shutter type is faintly recognizable.) July 1939 advertisement published in Asahi Graph (26 July 1939) reproduced in Gochamaze. November 1939 advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in , p. 98. April 1940 advertisement published in Asahi Graph (17 April 1940) reproduced in Gochamaze. December 1940 advertisement published in Shashin Shinpō, reproduced in Hagiya, p. 10 of no. 12. Catalogue Shashinki to zairyō by Asanuma Shōkai, dated October 1941, p.12. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2187/1623341664_55c313d665_m_d.jpg Extract of the October 1941 Asanuma catalogue. The shutter is advertised as a Crown II in the early advertisements and as a Crown RS in the October 1941 catalogue. It is externally a copy of the Compur-Rapid and it is probable that the mechanism is too. The speed rim is engraved CROWN–RAPID and the shutter plate is marked CROWNII–TIYOKO at the top. Tiyoko is an alternate writing for Chiyoko, itself an abbreviation of the company name Chiyoda Kōgaku. http://farm1.static.flickr.com/146/339676797_7f646b54d4_t_d.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/143/339677086_414900f325_t_d.jpg Advance knob, old and new type. The camera usually has a self-timer exactly similar to the one mounted on the Compur. Of the advertisements cited above, only the one dated January 1939 does not explicitly mention this device. However at least two examples are known without the self-timer button (one is pictured in this page). In both cases, the hole in the shutter housing is present and it seems that the part is simply broken. Something similar occurs with the exposure counter index. Tanimura says in no. 118 that the Crown model has a black painted dot instead of the protruding red-dotted pin, but it seems that the part is actually missing in the example pictured and that the black dot is the attaching hole. http://farm1.static.flickr.com/155/354042256_27bf67ba39_t_d.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/35/354042259_4e4b452b58_t_d.jpg Supply spool cradle, old and new type. Most examples have a new type of advance knob with a flatter top and three grooved rows, but one is known with the old type of knob. Example with old type of knob pictured in this page at kefk.net. Minor variations are known in the folding bed release button (striated or flat tip) but they perhaps occurred independently. Inside the camera, the cradle for the supply spool is different from the corresponding part in the Compur model. It also seems that the actual size of the picture frame was slightly reduced (from 44×58mm to 43×57mm). It would be further reduced on later examples, to 42×55mm. It is possible that edge sharpness was considered insufficient and that the image size was slightly cropped as a result. New back latch http://static.flickr.com/118/287621079_4dcc4979f1_m_d.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/140/337802478_4306495f55_m_d.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/144/337802475_bc9b818e1d_m_d.jpg Auto Semi Minolta n°14792, Promar Nippon f/4.5 lens, Crown shutter, self-timer, late back latch. The shutter's synch post is perhaps not original. Pictures courtesy of eBayer hbpartner. http://farm1.static.flickr.com/127/354021201_a85162c929_m_d.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/151/354021203_da29ab8da1_m_d.jpg Back latch, old and new type (seen from behind). The third version has a modified back opening and no holding strap. These parts were presumably modified around 1941, some time after the back latch of the Semi Minolta II. This version is pictured in an advertisement dated March 1942. Advertisement published in Hōdō Shashin, reproduced in , p. 98. Another advertisement probably dated 1942 is reproduced in Nostalgic Camera by Toshio Inamura. The shutter is advertised as a Crown RS but it has identical CROWNII markings and no apparent modifications. One example has been observed In an eBay auction. without the CROWNII and TIYOKO markings (only the intermediate hyphen is present), but it also seems to have an incomplete lens engraving and it surely left the factory by mistake with unfinished markings. Like for the Semi Minolta II, the lens engraving was changed at some time from Promar Anastigmat Nippon to Promar Nippon. A late example, pictured in this page, is known with a synchronized shutter and a PC synch. It is not known if this is original. Francesch, p. 81, says that a magnesic flash was sold as an accessory but this is certainly a confusion with the Auto Press Minolta. The speed rim is unmarked on this example. The Auto Semi Minolta was still mentioned in the government inquiry listing Japanese camera production as of April 1943. , item 51. Price and accessories The price was in late 1937 and early 1938, in early 1939, in late 1939, ¥248 in early 1941 , type 3, section 9. and in late 1941 and 1942. The Auto Semi Minolta was among the most expensive Japanese cameras (see Japanese prices). The October 1941 catalogue by Asanuma lists the following accessories: Catalogue Shashinki to zairyō by Asanuma Shōkai, dated October 1941, p.12. * hood with filter holder (30mm diameter): ¥1.70; * all chrome hood with filter holder: ¥3.50; * prism reflex finder: ¥21.35; * case: ¥13.04. Notes Bibliography Original documents * Asanuma Shōkai. Shashinki to zairyō (写真機と材料, Cameras and supplies). Catalogue dated October 1941. P.12. Document partly reproduced here in rebollo_fr's Flickr space. * Type 3, section 9. * Item 51. * Type 3, section 9. Recent sources * Item 275. (See also the pictures on pp.11 and 425.) * * Fujioka Shunichirō (藤岡俊一郎). "<Ōto semi minoruta> bunkai-ki" (<オートセミミノルタ>分解記, "'Auto Semi Minolta' dismantling notes"). Pp. 116–21. * Hagiya Takeshi (萩谷剛). "Kōkoku ni miru Minolta kamera no rekishi" (広告に見るミノルタカメラの歴史, "Minolta camera history seen through the advertisements"). Pp. 9–12. * P. 32. * Pp. 54 and 182. * P. 672. * Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten (思い出のスプリングカメラ展, Exhibition of beloved self-erecting cameras). Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 1992. (Exhibition catalogue, no ISBN number.) P. 9. * Pp. 24–5. * Items 1205–1206. * Tanimura Yoshihiko (谷村吉彦). "Supuringu kamera " (スプリングカメラ<セミミノルタ>, "'Semi Minolta' self-erecting camera"). Pp. 19–24. * Tanimura Yoshihiko (谷村吉彦). "Semi Minolta I-gata to II-gata (sono 2)." (セミミノルタⅠ型とⅡ型(その2), "Semi Minolta I and II (part 2)") In no. 118 (April 1987). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha. Links General links In English: * Minolta folding cameras at the Manual Minolta website In German: * Auto Semi Minolta at kefk.net In Japanese: * Auto Semi Minolta in the Camera database of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology * Auto Semi Minolta at With Zakka * Auto Semi Minolta in Miyazawa Noriyuki's camera site * Auto Semi Minolta in the Map Camera Museum * Auto Semi Minolta in the Kitamura Camera Museum Original documents In Japanese: * Advertisements reproduced in the Gochamaze website: ** Advertisement for the Minolta range published in the 23 March 1938 issue of Asahi Graph ** Advertisement for the Auto Semi Minolta published in the 5 January 1939 issue of Asahi Graph ** Advertisements for the Auto Semi Minolta published in the 26 July 1939 and 17 April 1940 issues of Asahi Graph * Advertisement for the Auto Semi Minolta published between 1942 and 1945, reproduced in Nostalgic Camera, a page by Toshio Inamura. Minolta, Auto Semi Auto Semi Category: A Semi Minolta, Auto Minolta, Auto Semi Category: 1937